Application Systems has a good track record as a publisher of adventure games. They have released jewels like Nelly Cootalot and Unforeseen Consequences. And Lamplight City is another mark on that good track record.

What’s Lamlight City About?

Lamplight City is an adventure game. It’s set in a Victorian steampunk version of the US. To be more specific, in a city called New Bretagne. New Bretagne could be considered a love child between New Orleans and New York.

We play as Miles Fordham, a former police officer that has left the force after a traumatic incident in which his partner, Bill Leger, died. Miles works as a private investigator, working cases that a former co-worker gives him on the sly. But things aren’t as simple for him, because apart from the trauma of seeing his partner die, he hears his voice constantly.

And there’s only one thing Bill wants. He wants Miles to get the person responsible for his death. Otherwise he won’t rest in peace. Or let you rest.

What Can You Tell Me About Lamplight City?

Lamplight City has five different cases that we’ll have to solve. Each case will take us to different places of the four boroughs in which New Bretagne is divided. These are Lyon, Gascogne, Worcester and Cholmondeley (the Chum for shot, remember it’s pronounced Chumley).

Each case will send us to different parts of the town, and we’ll deal with colourful characters. Such as the family of a grande dame who was buried alive, a rich family whose baby has been kidnapped and so on.

These cases have nothing to do with the one that led to Bill’s death, but they’re important regardless of that. It’s like a procedural TV show with a central mystery, a lot of the cases have nothing to do with said mystery but they’re important for character development and other similar things. Besides, by solving these cases Miles is getting his groove back before helping Bill move forward. Still, everything is connected here.

There are interesting things about the game, there’s no inventory at all. While there are items we get to pick up, and use, Miles does that automatically. The only thing the game keeps track of is the evidence you find. It also incorporates Miles hearing Bill’s voice in an interesting way, when we examine things we hear Bill’s thoughts. Unless we piss him off.

Real Detective Work

Lamplight City is the kind of game that LA Noire should’ve been. There’s a real sense of fulfillment in solving the cases. Each case has several suspects and different pieces of evidence that can lead us to different solutions, and you can even fail to solve a case altogether. Though if screw up too much then it might either end up in jail or in the asylum.

Your actions might shut down some avenues of investigation. For example, a character might refuse to talk to you because you’ve done something in a previous case, your wife will refuse to help you because you’ve apologized too much after making an ass out of yourself and pissed her off. Or maybe you just asked something really inappropriate. Repeatedly.

This is where the beauty of Lamplight City lies. It doesn’t take you by the hand to solve linear cases. There’s always more than one option. And failure is one of them.

Pros

Branching cases.

A proper detective game.

Simplified interface with no inventory but a comprehensive casebook.

The setting, and the characters.

The influences from Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers to Dickens and Poe.

Cons

It ends.

Conclusion

Lamplight City is not only a great adventure game, but a great detective game. When you play it you won’t feel like the game’s pushing you to a specific solution, it’s up to you to decide what trails to follow and who to accuse. And if you fail then you fail. More games should have this approach.

Here’s hoping this isn’t the last we see of New Bretagne, or these characters.

Abel G.C.

Abel G.C. is a writer and game developer. He was born in Spain but lives in Ireland. He first played a graphic adventure when he was three and became a life obsession. If he stops drinking green tea he might die and he also loathes writing in the third person.

Popular Discussions

Battlefield V, the 13th entry in the series, is returning to its World War II roots. EA took a risk with the last in the series, the just as confusingly titled Battlefield I. Set during the First World War, it remains the only AAA shooter set in that conflict, and one of only a handful […]

Fortnite is free to play, with no pay to win aspects. It only takes your money for cosmetic items. That accessible approach has made it a massive hit. Curating a community has lead to massive engagement with the game, this is reflected in how much money it brings in despite being completely free. Yet it still makes hundreds of […]

No Moss Studios is a small Indie developer that is currently developing ‘tiny’ games. These titles really are tiny. They’re mainly doing this through Patreon, but also offer each for a single fee. Their mechanics of these games range wildly but they are all well designed. While games grow larger and more ambitious, Indie games have […]

Red Dead Redemption 2 has brought to light a specific philosophy of game design used in blockbuster games that emphasizes technological achievement over everything else. Rockstar has unapologetically perused a line of development in which the creation of the most life-like atmosphere in a game is the most important factor in crafting an experience. Chasing realism […]

I relate to Luigi a lot. He’s the sensible brother, sensing that the odds are against him and wisely retreating. Some may say that this is cowardice but I, for one, see the benefits of being scared shitless of anything remotely threatening. This applies to video games too so this year for Halloween, I set out […]